NASA Awards

NASA astronaut Fernando Caldeiro presented Exceptional Company Performance Awards on Monday, December 20, 1999 to 14 outstanding workers at Hi-Temp Insulation in Camarillo who participated on the space shuttle program.

"Our safety comes from people like you and what you do here every day," said Caldeiro. "It is an honor to recognize the people who are responsible for our lives. Our gratitude to you is eternal."

Although he has not yet flown in space, Caldeiro qualified in 1996 for space flight assignment as a mission specialist.

Recipients of the Performance Awards were Sophia Andrade, Eleno Apsay, Francisco Barrera, Yolanda Casimiro, Martin Duran, Gustavo Galindo, Sammy Isaac, Lito Jose, Luis Sanchez and Maria Silvestre, all of Oxnard; Fernando Apsay, Rosalina Ochoa and Ruben Rodriguez all of Ventura; and martin Lopez of Port Hueneme.

"I’ve been with this company since it started, and this is my second award," said Duran 70, a supervisor on the space shuttle line. "These awards give us all an incentive to do even better."

Lopez, 36, a metal line assembler who has worked seven years for the company, described the awards as "very special for us all, because what we do is so important for the safety of everyone who flies."

In addition to the awards for it employees, the company was named Supplier of the year by the Boeing co. for supporting its space division.

Stan Albrecht, vice president and director of the shuttle program for Boeing, said Hi-Temp Insulation was selected "In recognition of its outstanding role in upgrading the leading edge of the wings of the space shuttle to protect against micrometeoroids.

"These sock-like shields designed and developed by this company made real gains in reducing the risk we take in the possible loss of shuttles and crew as the possible loss of shuttles and crew as they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere."

Sieg Borck, Hi-Temp’s founder and president, said his company is "Boeing’s biggest supplier of thermal insulation blankets. We have built 70 percent of the insulation system on the shuttle. We are presently in production to fabricate 16 more flight sets of critical thermal curtains for the boosters, which help lift the shuttle into space."

In the past Hi-Temp has been presented with the Silver Snoopy Award. This honor comes with a sterling silver lapel pin featuring the astronaut mascot the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Each pin has flown on a space shuttle mission.

Since it was incorporated in 1974, Hi-Temp Insulation has solved thermal and acoustical problems using new materials and fabrication techniques for both aerospace and commercial aircraft. With 450 employees, it is one of about 70 suppliers to the space program.

Congratulations to the following awardees: Front row left to right Luis Sanchez, President Sieg Borck, Lito Jose, Maria Silvestre. Back row Francisco Barrera, Gustavo Galindo, Rosalina Ochoa, Eleno Apsay, Martina Lopez, Sammy Isaac, Yolanda Casimiro, Astronaut Frank Caldeiro, Boeing Rep. Stan Albrecht, and Martin Duran. Awardees not shown: Sofia Andrade, Fernando Apsay, and Ruben Rodriguez.